


That Halloween Night

by storiesfromthesky



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Hogwarts House Sorting, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Children, Alternate Universe - Hogwarts, Family Issues, Friendship, Hogwarts, James Potter Lives, Raising Harry Potter, Sirius Black & James Potter Friendship
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-22
Updated: 2019-04-22
Packaged: 2020-01-14 20:33:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,469
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18483853
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/storiesfromthesky/pseuds/storiesfromthesky
Summary: What if James Potter had lived?The night Voldemort planned on killing the Potters, James was away for Halloween festivities, and was not there to protect his family. Now, Harry's life will be very different, but at least he'll have his father on the way.AU about what would have happened to Harry's life if James had raised him after Voldemort killed Lily on October 31, 1981.





	That Halloween Night

That night, everyone had been celebrating.

The weather, just beginning to finally cool, only brought the occasional leaf in its light breeze. The weather, as dark and gloomy as it was on the last October night, did not reveal the dark and imminent events which would soon disrupt everything his world.

Everyone he knew – except for his wife, or course, who was at home with their son – was gathered at a friend's house for the annual late October festivities. There were tables spread carelessly throughout the house, holding drinks and cups and plates, but no one cared if they got in the way of their party. All wizards in the area, all of his friends, were determined to have a great time, for just one night, even in the midst of the terror which had been hovering over their shoulders for years now. And so James Potter, who had been burdened with the death of both his parents since this horrible war began, stood in the middle of it all.

A half-empty glass in his hand, he strolled through the crowd and chatted with just about every friend he came across. They all seemed to enjoy themselves despite their outside worries. Even Peter Pettigrew, who had been slightly on edge and not quite himself since the news about the McKinnons, had decided to show up.

In the end, all they ever wanted was a break from it all, a few hours of rest from the war which seemed to never end.

That little amount of time was simply all they had.

For several hours, enthusiastic music played in the background, from a record James could not see but knew belonged to the Weasleys. He tried to enjoy himself, tried to lose his worries for the remainder of the night, but all he was really thinking about were Lily's last words before he left the house.

_"It'll be all right James, I'm fine here with Harry. Just go out tonight."_

Of course, it had taken a bit of convincing on his part, but he had originally intended on bringing his whole family to this gathering. Harry's first Halloween was one James had wanted to make a scene out of (one he had wanted to use as an excuse to grab some sweets as well) but he would have to make do with this particular gathering. _There will always be another one_ , he had told himself. _One drink here is better than none._

"All right there, mate?"

As if out of a trance, James turned slightly to find his best mate beside him. Despite his crooked grin, Sirius held a slightly somber expression behind his grey eyes, which James noticed to have been growing in the past few months. His soul was tired, but tired had become the norm across the community. The difference was that these days, only Sirius could hold a grin while handing his friend a bottle. "You look like you could use another drink, Prongs."

Reluctantly, James took the bottle but did not drink from it. "Thanks, mate."

"What's been with you lately? This isn't like you, getting all worn out before the party's even over."

He let out a single, hollow laugh. "Honestly, what _hasn't_ been with me?" He looked around at the room, full of wizards slowly bustling around tables, trying to get a word or two from their companions, or otherwise looking for something else to occupy them. If he looked hard enough, he could see that most of them harbored the same tired hopefulness in their outer expressions. Their imminent situation in the war was almost no different than his. Almost.

James ran a hand through his hair, and suddenly wondered how long it had been since he's done that, an action which used to be so common for him just a few years ago. "Look Pads, maybe I'm just tired, that's all. I shouldn't have come."

It was Sirius' turn to laugh. "Well, who _isn't_ tired nowadays?" But his expression softened. "But...  maybe it won't be so bad, yeah? After a while. When we win this."

James nodded, but could not look Sirius in the eyes anymore. "I think I might be heading home soon."

At last, Sirius' grin faded over, and he clapped a hand to James' shoulder. "I understand, mate. Go home to Evans – she needs you there."

Just as James nodded, because he agreed with any excuse to get himself home to the family, he heard a few witches gasp above the noise from the other side of the room. "I'll let him know," a woman's voice whispered breathlessly.

Within the next hour, everything in James' world fell apart.

From the middle of the crowd, Molly Weasley emerged with a worried expression, and rushed straight for James and Sirius. Her words were only the beginning of their downfall.

The news of what had happened that night at Godric's Hollow spread like wildfire throughout the party, but not before James hurried out the front door with Sirius trailing closely behind at the time. What James didn't notice was that at the last minute, Sirius had decided to stay behind to look for Peter. He would not know, until later that night, that Peter was no longer anywhere to be found. According to the others, he had left the party hours before, without a word.

James stood in the lawn, heart pounding, his hands trying to compose himself and his thoughts just long enough to focus and complete the damn spell. _Destination, determination, deliberation._ But no matter how fast he Apparated himself home, he would not have been there in time to make a difference.

The front gate was badly broken, so much in pieces that you wouldn't have recognized their lawn. The front door was left widely ajar, no doubt slammed open just seconds before it all happened. The roof of their little house was blasted through and still steaming in the cool night air. But James did not care about any of those things – the first thing he noticed, the first thing he truly remembered and would remember for the rest of his life, was the steady, unmistakable wailing of his son from upstairs in his room.

 _Harry_.

Running as fast as he could, he practically flew up the stairs. Only fourteen steps up, but it felt like an eternity as his mind raced with thoughts of the unimaginable. _Lily_ , he thought. _Please, Evans, I'm so sorry, I'm sorry I left –_

Inside Harry's bedroom, all that was left was the aftermath of chaos.

The love of his life. Gone, in just one night. The one night he truly should have stayed at home.

Their son's cries halted for a few beats when his father stepped into the room, for Harry did not understand why his mother was still on the floor. He watched as his father fell to his knees, as he hit the ground with both fists before heaving a breath and gently touching his wife's forehead. She was completely still, not a scratch on her face. And yet, she was gone. James wept and slow, silent tears streamed down his face. _She's gone._

After his heart rate began to slow, and the shock began to even across his body, the next thing James did was stand on his own again. With one last look at Lily, he got up from the floor and took a few steps towards his son, now whining with open arms and a bloody gash on his forehead.

"It's all right now, mate..." James breathed softly as he made to lift his son into his arms. "I'm here now." He held Harry tight and Harry held on just as much, even when he kept looking back and forth between his mother and father, wondering what was going on and if someone was going to stop all the pain he had in his head.

James did not know what to do next, but he knew everything would be different now. Eventually, it slowly dawned on him, as Harry's cries began to fade and the child tried to drift off to sleep, that something would have to be done about Peter Pettigrew. _Why didn't we see it before?... How could Peter have done this to us? Why, Wormtail?_ Though he had never felt utter betrayal before, James knew it took up part of the pain in his chest.

He would do whatever it took to keep the rest of his family safe.

* * *

Despite the terrible events which took place on the last night of October, one of the most evil wizards of all time, Lord Voldemort, had vanished without a trace. 

The next morning, the entire wizarding world was celebrating. Everyone but a broken young man who had nearly lost everything that mattered to him.


End file.
